Walking on Pins and Needles

Tai Chi is not about trying harder; it’s about letting go, being in the moment, feeling balance, and the fluidity of energy.

When you’ve been voted as “most likely to succeed” as a senior in high school with a bright future ahead, you set challenging goals and move forward to fulfill expectations. And as far as Arlene Faulk—accomplished businesswoman, storyteller, and Tai Chi instructor—knew, multiple sclerosis wasn’t going to get in her way.

At the age of 22, in the middle of working the busiest shopping day of the year, Arlene loses all feeling in her body from the waist down. Her mobility returns but she’s given no diagnosis, and one question pervades her thoughts: What is happening to my body?

In this moving and illuminating memoir of one woman’s years-long struggle to understand and conceal her debilitating symptoms as she ascends the corporate ladder in a major airline comes a story of perseverance, rediscovery, and hope in light of multiple sclerosis. As she jumps into the unknown, Faulk finds comfort and healing through Chinese medicine and Tai Chi. Her inspiring story demonstrates how a chronic and debilitating health condition lacks the power to control our lives and stop us from moving in the direction of possibility.